Controlled
by firesong77
Summary: It started with strange attacks in the night, and Chiro's suspicious behaviour leads the Hyper Force to suspect a powerful force is behind these events with revenge in mind. How can they face an enemy that hides behind faces they trust? R&R, thank you :P
1. Attacked

**Woohoo! A new story!**

**Just to let you know, this story is based on the movie 'The Faculty', but I made a few minor changes. Well, okay, some major changes. Anyway, if you've seen 'The Faculty', you'll probably guess what happens in the end... oh well.**

**Anyway, this is my first not-humour story, so no flames for my first try!**

**R&R!**

**Chapter one - Attack**

Night. Midnight, to be precise.

A golden crescent moon sat contentedly in the middle of the dark sky, with a few million stars surrounding it.

Everything was quiet.

The Super Robot stood, tall and proud, on the outskirts of Shuggazoom City, inside it lay the Hyper Force, all claimed by sleep. All but one.

Chiro tossed and turned restlessly, his tired eyes refusing to close. If he had been more alert, he would've heard footfalls outside his bedroom.

The bedroom door slammed open. Chiro sat up immediately There was a figure standing in the doorway. Chiro couldn't make out any details, but he could see it was a man with curly hair - obviously a Shuggazoom citizen.

Chiro got out of the bed. "Who are you?" he grunted, "What do you want? State your business!"

The figure in the doorway remained still and silent. Chiro went to turn the light on...

That's when the figure struck.

A long ear-piercing cry sounded all around Shuggazoom city, making every citizen turn in their beds.

Soon, the scream subsided. Everything was silent.

------

Antauri was up and running to Chiro's room before the others had opened an eyelid. Soon enough, they were all in their leader's sleeping quarters.

"Chiro!" yelled Antauri. "Where are you?"

Otto pointed to the floor. "He's.. uh... down there." he said. Chiro lay unconscious on the floor, surrounded by water. Nearby lay a bucket.

Gibson surveyed the room. "Whoever knocked Chiro out," he said, "I think he wanted Chiro to wake up again. I do not know why, though."

"Wow," said Sparx sarcastically. "Gibson doesn't know. That's a first."

Gibson threw a death glare, saying nothing.

Antauri stared at the boy on the floor. "Who would do this..." he murmured.

"Obviously an enemy." said Nova, mystified. "But... something's wrong..." Nova bent over Chiro, and studied the boy's face. Suddenly, she saw something.

"Guys!" she exclaimed. "Look here!" She pointed to a recent scar on Chiro's ear. Definitely caused by the attacker. But why would he attack Chiro's ear?

Gibson stared at Chiro in confusion. "Strange," said the blue monkey, "an attacker who scratches victim's ears and throws water on them..." Gibson thought deeply. "This attack differs from many of Skeleton King's threats..."

Everyone bent over Chiro. And the monkeys' hearts did a somersault as Chiro's eyelids slowly opened.

Chiro sat up and rubbed his head, before surveying the rest of the Hyper Force. "Oh... hi guys." he said, in a voice sounding completely different from his own.

"Hi Chiro!" Otto burbled. "We were just looking at a scratch on your ear. How'd it happen?" Otto grinned, but soon the grin disappeared as Chiro's expression transformed from innocent to a full-on glare.

Sparx backed away slowly. "You know," he said, with a weak grin, "I think we should leave Chiro..."

"Yes." said Chiro mechanically. "I think you should leave your leader. Your leader needs sleep."

Antauri looked closely at Chiro. "Are... are you alright?" he asked slowly.

**"GO!"** Chiro roared, then stormed over to his bed. "And tomorrow I need a water filter installed in here... I'm dehydrated..."

Everyone took a few steps back, then sped out of the room. But Antauri was the only one who looked back at Chiro, who was already asleep on the bed. Antauri was confused. Chiro had never yelled at the team before...

The black monkey yawned. Oh well, he thought, best not disturb Chiro. He decided to leave the investigation until the morning.

**Wow! I never thought I'd finish! AND MY FIRST STORY THAT HAS NO HUMOUR RATING! WOOHOO! does a dance**

**Please review! I'm hoping this story will be better than 'Thank God You're Here', which received about two reviews for the second chapter... lol!**


	2. Interrogations and Interviews

**Woohoo! I'm actually updating! does another dance**

**Anyway, thanks to the _THREE PEOPLE _that reviewed to my first chapter... I feel so ashamed...**

**Anyway, R&R! And tell me if my first chapter was alright for a first attempt at scary stories, because I've attempted others... but they were so bad I deleted them all, and I hadn't even posted them up:)**

**Anyway, hugs to all! I'm actually updating! Yay!**

**Chapter two - Interrogations and Interviews**

The Hyper Force woke up, yawning and stretching. Another day, and probably another enemy to fight. But that wasn't the monkeys' first issue - their first issue was Chiro.

The boy woke up, and jumped out of bed. He walked over to the door and tried to go through it, but the way was blocked by five colourful monkeys.

"What are you doing?" Chiro grumbled. "Let me through!" But the monkeys wouldn't move.

"Why were you soaking wet last night?" interrogated Sparx. "Did you wet yourself?"

Chiro was mortified. "NO!" he yelled. "**Let me through! **I'm thirsty, and I want a drink!"

Antauri stepped forward. "Chiro," he said urgently, "This is urgent! You were attacked last night. Why won't you tell us anything?"

Chiro pushed past the team and stormed off. However, Antauri's greenish ghost claws were out in an instant, and Chiro was dragged back by an invisible force.

"Why were you unconscious last night?" the black monkey demanded. "Why were you wet? Why was there a bucket next to you? Why did you scream?"

Chiro stopped struggling, and sighed heavily. "I... I was getting a bucket of water..." he said, "And when I got into my room I tripped over. I yelled, the water went all over me and I hit my head on the corner of my bed." Chiro looked at the monkeys like they were a bunch of idiots. "There! Unconscious, on the floor. Dilemma solved."

There was silence. Chiro might've been telling the truth, but if he was he wasn't telling the whole truth. And there was something... something niggling in the back of Antauri's mind... it was as if the Power Primate was weakening...

"Chiro," said Antauri quietly, releasing his invisible grip on Chiro an putting his claws away, "Why did you need a bucket of water?"

Chiro glared at Antauri. "Leave me alone!" he yelled, and stormed off.

Silence for a while, before Otto spoke up.

"What's wrong with Chiro?" he asked. "It's as if he's not Chiro!"

Nova stared at Otto. "You mean, he's been possessed?" she asked.

"Yeah..." said Otto, thinking deeply, then nothing more was said.

------

Later that day in a park in Shuggazoom City, Antauri was wishing he had never come out to investigate who could've attacked Chiro.

At first, Gibson advised Antauri against it. "Don't go, Antauri!" the scientist had told him. "You could cause mass panic, and Chiro has already told us what happened!" But Antauri didn't listen - now he wished he had.

The black monkey had made no progress, and in total had to face six citizens who insisted they tell him their life stories. He was beginning to wish translators had never been invented.

Antauri came across a man with an English accent. "I have just moved here." he told Antauri. "I wouldn't know anything."

But Antauri insisted on his name, like he had done with the others. The English man's name was Mark, and would reveal nothing more.

Antauri sighed. Seventeen citizens interviewed, about 3 million to go. Antauri headed back to the Super Robot with low spirits.

However, little did Antauri know that soon he would find out just what was wrong with Chiro.

------

Three people watched Antauri go - a woman and two men, and all held a two-litre bottle of water. They regarded the black monkey with high suspicions. Then they turned to each other.

"He's gonna find out too much!" muttered the woman.

"Don't fear!" said one of the men calmly. "He'll be taken soon..." He smiled, though it wasn't a nice smile. Then they all took a gulp from their water bottle.

The second man spoke next. "Yes," he said. "The monkey will be taken soon... all we have to do is wait."

**Woohoo! Another story to complete! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

**Anyways, review!**


	3. Another Attack

**Sorry for not updating, I've been pretty busy lately.**

**Okay, enough with the fake and forced optimism. Someone of higher authority advised me against writing stories based on movies. Should I delete my story? Is it copyright? Anyway, lots of other Fanfictioners do it, so why can't I?**

**Tell me as soon as possible!**

**Anyway, R&R!**

**Chapter three - Another attack**

Antauri was innocently on his way to the Super Robot, checking over his notes. He paused when he read the notes on Mark, but he put the notes away as he opened the hidden door in the Super Robot's foot.

The black monkey was about to go up his tube to the Brain Scrambler to think, when he ran into Nova.

"N... Nova!" stammered Antauri. "What are you doing?"

Nova, who had fallen over, looked up at Antauri fearfully. "Don't tell Chiro..." she whispered. "I don't think he's telling the truth..."

Antauri nodded. "I don't think he is either." he agreed.

"... I was going to search his room for clues." said Nova, then she instantly regretted it as Antauri's face went from sympathetic to surprise.

Nova looked down. "Don't worry." she muttered. "It's a stupid idea, we won't try it-"

"Nova!" Antauri interrupted. "I think that's a good idea!"

Nova halted. She never thought Antauri would agree to raiding and searching their leader's room.

"Okay..." said Nova slowly. "I think now would be a good time, Chiro's watching the others play video games with strange interest. You'd think he'd never seen a video game in his life."

The two monkeys discussed their plan and what parts of the room to search, although they didn't know what they were searching for.

Soon enough, they were in Chiro's room, tearing the place apart. Nova found nothing, but Antauri proved more successful.

Antauri was looking under the bed. "NOVA!" he exclaimed. "Look at this!" The golden monkey scuttled over, and they found themselves staring at probably about forty to fifty water-bottles, not counting the twelve that were empty.

"Wow..." Nova whispered in amazement. "Why would Chiro need so much water?"

Suddenly, voices were heard. Footsteps sounded outside the room. Antauri and Nova looked at each other fearfully, and leapt into the wardrobe nearby.

Peering through a crack in the door, the hidden monkeys watched Chiro and Sparx enter the room.

"What did you want to show me?" Sparx questioned. "It'd better be good, kid, or you'll regret pulling me from my video game. I was winning!"

"Don't worry, Sparx." said Chiro. "It'll be good, I promise..."

In an instant, Chiro leapt on the red monkey. Antauri and Nova, who were still hidden in the wardrobe, gasped. Luckily Chiro didn't hear them.

Chiro had Sparx pinned to the ground. "What's wrong with you, kid!?" the red monkey roared. Chiro took no notice; he seemed to be unscrewing the metal cap over Sparx's ear. Before long, the metal came off completely.

Antauri and Nova felt their stomach churn as Chiro pulled out a worm-like creature from nowhere and let it slide into Sparx's ear, which had been hidden under the metal cap. Sparx's struggles stopped. Antauri and Nova guessed he was unconscious.

Chiro screwed the metal back onto Sparx's head, ran to his bed and from under it he pulled a bottle of water. This water was poured all over Sparx, and the empty bottle thrown back under the bed.

Antauri and Nova watched in shock, not believing what they had just seen. Chiro had attacked Sparx...

A few minutes later, Sparx awoke. He looked around, then he raised his fist and knocked on the metal part of his head. Then he smiled.

"I'm okay." he said, turning to Chiro. "But I need water."

Chiro tossed the monkey a bottle. "We need to get a few more hundred people before we can satisfy the queen." he said, taking a bottle for himself and drinking all the water in a gulp.

"Yeah right!" retorted Sparx. "We'll need the whole _city_ before we can satisfy that fat lump of lard."

Then the two left to room.

Antauri and Nova waited. They waited for half an hour before coming out again.

"I... I don't understand..." murmured Nova. "Why didn't Sparx confront Chiro about the worm thing? And what is 'the queen'?" She threw her arms in the air as a sign of defeat. "I'm lost, Antauri!" said said, almost hysterical. "People are being attacked and we don't know why!"

Antauri grabbed her shoulder. "Nova!" he said. "We know at least _some_ things!"

"Like what?" Nova demanded.

"Like," Antauri pointed out, "that wasn't the real Chiro who attacked Sparx. Well, it was. But don't you see!? Chiro was attacked last night and had a similar worm put in his ear. That was where the scratch came from! And these worms..."

"... they... control people's minds..." Nova finished for him. "And... and they need water..."

"Lots of water. Water to survive." said Antauri. "But who is the queen? Obviously a larger bug controlling someone else. Obviously the one who rules these worm things..."

The two stopped talking. Then they realised what they were up against. These worms could get inside everyone in Shuggazoom.

They didn't know who was taken and who wasn't. Who could they trust?

**Okay! End of the third chapter! I'm getting closer to the end... but a few questions remain unanswered.**

**Who is the queen?**

**Where is the queen?**

**How did these worm things get here?**

**How will the Hyper Force get out of this one?**

**Find out in future chapters! . . . .**

**. . . . but only if you review!**


	4. Meeting, Plans and Suspicions

**I AM NOT DEAD!**

**Sorry I haven't updated ANYTHING in AGES! I've just had exams, and I haven't had enough time to update a story or anything.**

**Anyways, thankies for all the feedback on the 'Should I delete my story because someone advised me against writing movie-based topics?' dilemma. **

**As you can see I have decided to keep writing my story, mainly because I have many plans to go into this story. Plans within plans. Plans within plans within plans... which are sometimes... within plans.**

**Anyways, on with the chapter!**

**Chapter four - Meeting, Plans and Suspicions**

Antauri and Nova sped out of Chiro's room and shot up the black tube, which led to the Brain Scrambler; Antauri's personal part of the ship.

Nova sat on the floor, while Antauri sat on his little black chair, and both tried to think of what to do.

"I reckon we should take away all of their water bottles so they dry up." said Nova.

Antauri shook his head. "What's to stop them getting more?" he said. "They'll just steal some from the milk bar, or somewhere else they can find contained water."

Nova tried to argue that they 'couldn't' steal, because of their reputation of being the protectors of Shuggazoom. Antauri argued back, saying that the worms inside Chiro and Sparx wouldn't give a damn about reputations or anything that didn't have anything to do with controlling more people.

Nova shut her eyes. "I think..." she mumbled, "... I think we should get Otto and Gibson here as soon as possible, only if they haven't been 'taken' as well."

Antauri nodded in agreement. They needed allies.

The two quietly slipped out of the Brain Scrambler, and made their way to the main room. Otto and Gibson innocently played video games, as they had been doing for about an hour.

How can they play video games for so long!? thought Antauri. Gibson looked up and gave them a friendly smile. "Hello, Antauri!" he said merrily, "Otto and I were entertaining ourselves with this video game. Have you noticed the pixels in the screen are terribly large?"

"What's a pixel?" asked Otto, though he didn't take his eyes from the television.

Gibson sighed. "Never mind, Otto." he said, then he dropped his controller and turned to face Nova and Antauri. "Where have you been for the last half-hour?" he asked.

"Training room," said Nova quickly, "I was... uh, training."

"And I was meditating." said Antauri. Gibson looked at them suspiciously. Nova looked shifty-eyed, but Antauri's face showed nothing. Gibson couldn't tell if they were lying or not.

"Well, okay." said the scientist. He turned back to his video game, but found that he had forgotten to pause it. Otto's animated character was throwing Gibson's animated character around on the screen.

Gibson's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Otto jumped around happily.

"I win!" he chanted. "I win and you lose!"

Antauri and Nova looked at each other, then back at Gibson and Otto. "Uh, guys," said Nova, "We... found out something about Chiro."

Gibson looked up, and Otto stopped jumping around. "What?" they asked in unison.

Nova looked at Antauri, who stepped forward and explained everything that had happened, and everything they saw in Chiro's room.

Gibson looked mystified. "Ah..." he said, thinking deeply, "Parasitic life forms that thrive inside a living creature and control their host's brain activity?"

Otto looked horrified. "ALIENS!" he yelled, and ran around the room screaming. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Gibson shook his head. "I'm sorry, Antauri." he said. "I have never encountered any living specimens like this, and I have encountered much, being the one to discover a slug that excretes candy."

They all grinned, remembering Chiro's birthday present.

"We're telling the truth!" cried Nova desperately. "Just because you haven't seen it, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist!"

Nova, embarrassed at her sudden outburst, looked at the floor in silence.

Otto had stopped running around the room and screaming, instead he was hiding behind a chair. "Antauri!" he whispered. "Chiro and Sparx are coming!"

Nova leapt behind Antauri, who leapt behind Gibson. Chiro entered the room, followed by Sparx.

"Hey guys, what's up?" said Chiro, as normally as possible.

"Uh, not much..." stammered Gibson.

Antauri stepped forward from behind Gibson. "We're all going to the Brain Scrambler to... talk."

"All of us?" said Otto, who came out from behind the chair. "What are we talking about?"

Antauri gave Otto one of those looks. Thankfully Otto noticed it and quietened down.

Chiro frowned. "Can I come?" he said. "What are you talking about?"

"... scientific stuff." said Nova. "It's really boring, you wouldn't want to come..."

Chiro frowned. "Well, maybe I do!" he snapped.

Antauri, Nova, Gibson and Otto looked at each other in distress. How were they going to get to the Brain Scrambler without Chiro and Sparx? Suddenly, Antauri had an idea.

"Chiro, weren't you the one who was chosen three days ago to get the groceries?" he asked.

This was, of course, a lie. But how was the worm in Chiro's brain going to know that?

Chiro's eyes narrowed, trying to figure out whether the black monkey was lying. However, not a spark of emotion showed on Antauri's face. Chiro leant back and sighed, deciding to listen to whatever Antauri said.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." said Chiro loudly. "Thanks for reminding me. Sparx and I will go together-"

"Sparx is staying here." interrupted Antauri. Chiro tried to argue, but Antauri just shook his head.

Everyone nodded, and ushered Chiro out of the room. Nova put her ear against the door, and gave everyone the thumbs-up. Safe - for now.

Antauri, Gibson, Nova and Otto all looked at Sparx. The red monkey suddenly realised the danger he was in, and backed away slowly.

"Guys - are you all... feeling alright?" he asked slowly.

Gibson's drills came out and were pointed at Sparx's head. "At first," said the blue monkey, "I didn't believe Antauri and Nova's story of brain controlling worms." Gibson paused. "But after Chiro fell for the groceries trick," he added, "I knew there was some truth in what they were telling me."

"You have a worm in your brain!" said Otto. "Does it hurt?"

"Who is the queen!" yelled Nova.

"How did you get here!" shouted Antauri.

Sparx backed away some more, eyeing Gibson's drills warily. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" Sparx yelled, but there was fear in his voice - fear of Gibson's drills, or fear of discovery?

Everyone looked at each other. Sparx took his moment and sprinted across to room to the door.

Gibson, however, was ready; he carefully aimed at the fleeing monkey and shot a tranquilizer dart.

Sparx fell to the ground, and all went black.

**WOO! Chapter done!**

**Sparx: What happens to me?**

**Me: Never you mind.**

**Sparx:TELL ME or I'll burn the television!**

**Me: No.**

**(Sparx burns television)**

**Me: That's kind of funny, coz it was your television!**

**Sparx: (anime sweatdrop)**

**Anyway, review!!!**


	5. Hostage and Heroin

**Hi everyone, thanks for reviewing!**

**This chapter doesn't go without SURPRISES!**

**Yay! R&R!**

**Chapter five - Hostage and Heroin**

Sparx's eyes opened. At first, everything was blurry - all he could see were colourful shapes in front of him. Suddenly, everything slipped into focus and he saw Antauri, Nova and Otto. None looked happy.

Sparx tried to shout, but there was a strip of cloth around his mouth. He tried to move, but he was tied to a chair. His wild eyes looked around in a frenzy, and Sparx noted that he was in Gibson's lab.

Banging noises were heard outside the door. Foul language followed.

"I locked the door!" burbled Otto. "Now Chiro can't get in."

Sparx glared at them all, and then he noticed Gibson was at the back of the room, working on something in test tubes.

Suddenly, Gibson spun around. The scientist was holding a test tube filled to the brim with a smoking white substance. Gibson was eyeing it carefully, making sure it didn't spill.

"Here!" said Gibson urgently. "Try this!"

Sparx became despairingly aware that these chemicals were to be tested on him. Sparx desperately tried to wriggle, but the ropes around his metallic wrists held him tightly against the chair.

Nova strolled over to Sparx and ripped the gag from his mouth. "Sparx!" she snapped. "Hold still!"

Gibson passed the test tube to Antauri, who held it under Sparx's nose. "Sparx," he said gently, "Sniff."

"W... What!?"

"SNIFF!" yelled Otto excitedly. "Sniff! Sniff! Sniff! Sniff! Sn-"

"Shut up!" snapped Sparx. "Why do you want me to sniff this... stuff?"

Gibson stepped forward. "While you were unconscious," he said, "We were deciding what to do with you. We figured that the worm in your head needs water..."

"... so we decided to take away all the water and give you something to dry you up." finished Antauri. "Perfectly harmless things, of course." he added.

Sparx eyed the empty conical flasks on the floor. "... you tried some on me while I slept, didn't you?" he said.

Everyone nodded.

"Unfortunately," he said, "They proved unsuccessful. But we have this substance, and you need to sniff the steam coming from it to dry and dehydrate you."

Sparx shook his head stubbornly. There was no way he was going to sniff that stuff.

Antauri shrugged, and held the test tube under Sparx's nose. Nova grabbed Sparx's mouth and clamped it shut. Now he had to breathe through his nose sooner or later.

Soon enough, Sparx sniffed. All the smoke coming from the liquid in the test tube had been inhaled.

Everyone waited. Nothing happened.

Gibson threw his hands in the air as a sign of defeat. "Well I'll be damned!" he cried. "I've tried everything! The only thing we haven't done is throw him on Sotourix-7!"

If Chiro had have been in the room, he would've shuddered.

Suddenly, Otto had an idea. "How about heroin?" he suggested.

Everyone's jaws dropped. **_"WHAT!?"_**

****Antauri shook his head. "I'd prefer we play it safe and use salt..."

Otto stamped his foot stubbornly. "Nobody ever uses my ideas." he whined. "Gibson's only used one of my inventions once, and none of you liked my Defence System! I think we should use heroin."

Nova looked at Antauri. "It couldn't hurt to use heroin..." she said slowly. "Well, it might make Sparx severely dehydrated, but who cares? It's only Sparx."

Antauri thought deeply, before nodding.

"Fine... heroin it is."

**Woot! Review!**


	6. Simon

**Wow! The monkeys have actually agreed to use heroin for good reasons! What is really amazing is the fact that Antauri has agreed to it, especially when they could've used salt...**

**By the way, there is swearing in this chapter. No flames for it, I have warned you.**

**R&R!**

**_DISCLAIMER:_ **I, unfortunately, do not own the Hyper Force but I do own... ah... some other arrivals...

**Chapter six - Simon**

Nova crashed into Gibson's lab, holding about fifteen pens.

"Nova!" scolded Gibson. "We told you to get... _you know what, _not pens!_"_

"I did." she said, winking. She handed a pen to Gibson, who studied it closely. Then he nodded, for the heroin was hidden inside the pen.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"You don't want to know." said Nova, shaking her head solemnly.

Sparx was still tied up, and the gag wasn't on him. "You're not gonna give that to me!" he yelled. "I'll get addicted! It could be... _dangerous!_"

Antauri nodded. "I'm sorry, but I must agree with Sparx." he said. "We have to test in on... something else. We have to make sure it's _perfectly safe_." Antauri went to face Nova, then spotted something unconscious in the corner of the room.

"Tell me, Nova," said Antauri, frowning. "Who is that?" He pointed in the direction of the figure, which lay on the floor near Gibson's lab table.

Nova glared at the figure. "This freak, I caught him following me back to the Super Robot." she said angrily. "And he tried to fight me. But I punched him in the stomach. _And guess what I found in his pocket?"_

Nova grabbed an empty beaker from Gibson's table, pulled something from the man's pocket and thrust it into the beaker.

It was a worm.

Gibson stared, wide-eyed, at the worm. "He was trying to put that in your brain!" he gasped. "You could've been... taken!" Carefully, Gibson carried the beaker over to a faucet and filled it to the brim with water. The worm wriggled around.

"Otto, Nova!" he ordered. "Get a notepad and paper! Write down any changes you see!"

Nova and Otto instantly obeyed. Antauri stepped closer to the beaker and looked inside.

"Antauri!" whinged Otto. "Get your fat head out of the way!"

Antauri looked at the green monkey. "Otto, a rude attitude will get us nowhere!" But our wise monkey stepped out of the way.

Nothing happened at first. But soon, long flexible tentacles formed out of the worm's sides, and small spikes poked out through the thin layer of skin on its back.

Otto, curiosity ruling in his mind, put his finger in the beaker.

"No!" cried Gibson. "Otto!"

The worm bared sharp rows of teeth, and bit Otto's finger. Otto cried out in pain, and pulled his finger out of the beaker.

"Otto, why did you do that!" scolded Gibson. "It could be venomous!"

"I don't know." mumbled Otto sheepishly. Then he sat down on the floor, and looked at the small dent in his finger.

Meanwhile, nobody noticed the unconscious figure was stirring.

------

It was night. Stars began to shine out from behind clouds, and the sun disappeared over the horizon.

Three people sat outside the Super Robot - the woman and one of the men from chapter two, and Chiro.

"That little yellow bitch monkey kidnapped Simon!" cursed the woman.

"I told him!" muttered the man. "I told him not to follow her, and that she would be taken soon! But he couldn't wait, could he?"

"So impatient!" said Chiro under his breath.

"Shut up, boy!" snapped the woman. "You've got a lot to learn in the ways of the worm!"

"Ways of the worm..." hissed Chiro. "What a load of crap..."

They all took a mouthful of water from their drink bottles.

"I hope they try attacking Simon with their normal weapons." said Chiro. "Then they'll realise what they're up against..."

The three started to laugh. Their cackles echoed through the night.

------

The stirring figure (who was, in fact, Simon) sat up slowly, rubbing his head. Nova had given him one hell of a punch, which seemed to disturb the worm in the man's brain, although it seemed to be all right now.

Simon looked around the room. He saw Sparx tied to a chair, who he noted had already been 'taken' by a worm. He saw Otto and Nova writing things down in a notebook, Gibson staring at something in beaker and Antauri standing a little further away from the rest.

Simon chose his victim.

He felt around in his pocket for the worm, then silently cursed to himself. The worm was gone. Then he saw it floating in the water-filled beaker on the desk.

Simon looked around the room for something - _anything_ to serve as a distraction for the monkeys. He looked at the floor, and saw a group of empty conical flasks on the floor. He looked at the walls, and saw an air vent.

The man picked up a conical flask and threw it at the air vent. The vent fell inwards with a bang, turning all the monkeys' heads away from the worm.

"What was that?" whispered Gibson.

Antauri frowned. He brought out his ghost claws and crept towards the air vent. He cried out in pain as he stepped on one of the the broken pieces of the conical flask.

All the monkeys rushed to Antauri's aid, leaving the worm unattended. Simon took his chance. He jumped up, sprinted to the worm and pulled it out of the beaker.

Otto spun around. "Guys!" he cried. "This man is MOVING!"

Everyone turned around and saw Simon. But Simon didn't care - he had the worm now. He leapt on Otto and tried to unscrew the metal cap on Otto's ear. Antauri, ignoring the cut in his foot, jumped up and attacked Simon with full force.

Simon fell to the floor.

Otto looked extremely bewildered. "I... I was going to become... one of _them_..." he mumbled.

"We won't let them attack us." said Antauri, looking at the body on the floor. Then Antauri fell backwards as Simon twitched, jumped up and grabbed Antauri's foot.

**_"CYCLO-CHOPPING DOOM SPIN!"_** yelled Otto, thrusting his saws towards Simon. They seemed to bounce off the man, leaving him with no injury.

Nova's metal fists emerge and slammed a punch, making contact with Simon's shoulder. Simon completely ignored her.

Gibson grabbed one of the heroin-filled pens, opened the end and held the open end of the pen under Simon's nose. Simon, who hadn't noticed, breathed in some of the heroin.

The man shuddered. He stopped pulling at Antauri's foot, and with a long sigh, he fell to the floor. He didn't get up.

Antauri pulled his foot from Simon's grasp. "Be wary, Monkey Team." he whispered. "This could be a trap."

They waited for something - _anything_ to happen. For a short while... nothing. Then suddenly, Nova spotted something.

"Antauri!" she cried. "Look!"

She pointed to Simon's ear. There was something slimy wriggling out of it. It was a worm - just like the one which he had pulled out of the beaker. It had been dried out, and it had come out of hiding to search for some water.

Antauri picked up the worm and grabbed the pen from Gibson's hand. He tipped some of the heroin on to the worm, and the worm sizzled in his palm. It went a dirty shade of white, before stiffening and dying.

Antauri flicked the worm away in disgust, and tipped the rest of the heroin onto the other worm, which lay in Simon's hand. This worm also sizzled, turned white and died.

"Yuck." muttered Gibson. "To believe that such a disgusting creature has thrived in this universe..."

"I find it sickening too, Gibson." Antauri replied. "But I have a feeling... this will be nothing compared to... the queen."

Silence fell over the team, until Gibson spoke.

"Is the said queen the same one you told me that Chiro and Sparx were discussing, soon after Sparx had been... um..." Gibson paused, thinking of the correct word.

"_Infected_ would be a good word to use." suggested Nova.

"Ah... _infected_..." said Gibson, nodding. "I guess that word would be appropriate."

Sparx glared at Antauri and Nova. "You..." he hissed. "You were in there?"

Antauri nodded. "There is no point denying you were infected." he said. "Nova and I heard you talking about it."

"You'll never find the queen!" the red monkey spat. "Never!"

Otto suddenly grabbed Antauri's shoulder. Antauri turned around, and Otto looked very scared. "That man!" he whispered, pointing to the unconscious body of Simon on the floor. "He's waking up!"

This was true. Simon's eyes were slowly opening, and he was surveying the room in confusion.

"W... Where am I?" he asked bluntly.

"You are in the laboratory," said Gibson, "of the Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force. You have been infected by a small parasitic species of platyhelminth, which resided inside your head and controlled your brain activity. You may not remember many recent events, but if you do, please tell me who could've infected you."

Simon stared blankly at Gibson. "What the hell are you going on about?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

Antauri stepped forward. "Sir," he asked. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Simon took a breath. "I was walking to a milk bar..." he began, "... and I was walking past an alleyway when a man and a woman jumped out of the alleyway and grabbed both my arms. They pulled me into the alleyway and... pulled out a wriggling thing..."

"A worm!" breathed Nova.

"They put it on the side of my head," the man continued, "And I don't remember anything else. I woke up here."

All the monkeys looked at each other. It looked like they could trust this man.

"What's your name?" asked Nova.

"Simon!" the man replied irritably. "Will someone, apart from the blue monkey, tell me what the hell happened to me?"

Antauri sighed. "A worm was put in your ear." he said. "It's a parasitic worm. It went into your brain... and it controlled your consciousness. It needs water to live, so we dried you out. The worm crawled out of your ear, and we killed it."

Simon looked at the monkeys blankly.

Sparx was angry. "You stupid man!" he cried. "You idiotic bastard! Don't you dare say where the queen is, or I will _kill you!"_

Antauri breathed heavily. "Gibson, Otto, try and get information out of Sparx." he said.

Otto and Gibson nodded quickly.

Antauri turned to Nova. "Please, hand me the heroin pens." he said. "We're going to find the queen."

Nova nodded in determination. "And kill her."

**Wow... that was my longest chapter I've ever written! (massages fingers)**

**Antauri: I have a lot of appearances!**

**Chiro: And I have hardly any!**

**Me: Don't worry... your time will come... MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!**

**Antauri: Uh, review!**


	7. Capture

**Chapter seven of Controlled.**

**Meh. Read and Review.**

**Chapter seven - Capture**

Antauri limped down the corridors of the Super Robot, trying his best to ignore the cut in his foot, even though the pain was extreme.

"Um, Antauri?" asked Nova. "Are you _sure_ you don't want a band-aid?"

"Nova, for the last time, I'm sure." he responded. "It isn't that bad..."

"You've left a trail of blood!" she retorted. "If someone's following us, they wouldn't have much of a problem..."

Antauri stopped and turned to Nova. "Let them follow. We don't have enough time. The queen could be infecting the whole city by now!"

Nova nodded. She knew Antauri was right. "Okay," she said, "let's go."

------

"For the LAST... FREAKING... TIME... I'M TELLING YOU **NOTHING!"**

Gibson sighed heavily. Sparx was being very uncooperative. "Don't yell at me, please don't..." he muttered.

**"I'LL YELL IF I BLOODY WELL WANT TO!"** Sparx yelled again.

"We're only trying to save the city..." Gibson murmured.

"Yeah!" concurred Otto. "Think of the city!"

"We're only trying to save everyone's lives..."

"Yeah! Think of every-"

"Be quiet, Otto. Please." Gibson sighed again. He hoped Antauri and Nova were having more success. Gibson looked at Sparx, wriggling around in the chair and trying to free his wrists from the bonds around his wrists.

Gibson decided he would finish things once and for all. He grabbed a heroin-pen Antauri had left behind, unscrewed the end and held it threateningly close to Sparx's face.

"... one more word..." Gibson hissed, "... and I'll shove this whole pen up your nose!"

Sparx quietened down, and eyed the heroin-pen warily. "Take that away and give me a worm!" he pleaded. "And let me infect you quietly. The others will never know..."

Without a second thought, Gibson clamped Sparx's mouth shut and held the heroin-pen under Sparx's nose.

"Sniff, Sparx." he ordered.

Sparx shook his head defiantly, and held his breath.

"Speaking more to the worm," said Gibson, "you have no reason to live. My friends are after your queen. And there are chances that if the queen dies, you all die. Everyone dies at some point. The only question is _when."_

Sparx looked up at Gibson with frightened eyes. Gibson, without realising, had unlocked another secret of the worms. If the queen was killed, all the worms wriggled out of their hosts to die.

Sparx did nothing. He looked to the ground, and then at the pen. The worm inside his head - it was actually considering its options. What could it do? It was no use to the queen, as its host was tied up with heroin about to enter its system.

Sparx looked at the floor again. "... all right..." he mumbled. Although his voice was muffled by Gibson's hand, it was loud enough for both blue and green monkey to hear.

Gibson and Otto watched in awe as as Sparx sniffed all of the contents of the heroin-pen.

------

Antauri opened the Super Robot entrance, and stepped outside. A small thin line was visible on the horizon to the east. Dawn was breaking.

Antauri sat down, and wiped dried blood from his foot. "Nova, we need a plan." he said. "We don't know who the queen is, or where she is."

"I know..." she replied.

Neither of them noticed two people creeping up behind them.

"...we need a strategy, we need... I don't know, we need all the help we can get." Antauri finished, sighing.

Nova saw a figure behind Antauri, raising a baseball bat high above its head.

"ANTAURI!" she cried. "LOOK OUT!"

Antauri spun around, just to glimpse someone swing a baseball bat with amazing force. The bat hit him on the side of the head, and he fell down unconscious.

Nova's giant fists were out and ready, and about to attack the figure in front of her. Unfortunately, she didn't notice the figure behind her.

Nova felt something smashing the back of her head before she went out cold.

**Good? Bad? Tell me!**

**Poor Antauri, and poor Nova. They may or may not make it out in the end, but if they do, they will have a headache.**

**Review!**


	8. Goodbye

**Everyone, here's the deal.**

Well... I feel like a traitor saying this, but I feel I'm 'getting over' Super Robot Monkey Team. I had a great time here... met some great people, read some great stories, had a lot of fun...

I still love Super Robot Monkey Team, but unfortunately, my love for the show isn't as great as it used to be.

I may come on FF to read some stories, but I won't be writing anymore. I'll try as hard as I can to update my remaining stories, and maybe add some more to the MSMF 100, but it'll take a while.

So... the great SRMTHFG wave has come to an end. In a way.

**Regards,**

**firesong77**


	9. Infections and Questions

**Chapter eight, coming up! And if I remember rightly, I left off at a cliffie... Hee hee!**

**Chapter Eight - Infections and Questions**

Sparx's eyes opened. His vision was blurry at first, but he began to see a big green shape in front of him. He recognised this as Otto

"Gibson, he's waking up." said Otto.

Sparx tried to recall what had just happened to him, but he couldn't remember anything. "Where am I?" he mumbled. "What happened?"

"You were infected." said Gibson bluntly.

"... huh?"

Gibson turned around, and held a wriggling worm in front of Sparx. "This was in your head." said the blue monkey. "It is a species of platyhelminth, and it controlled your brain activity. I believe Chiro put it there."

Sparx was really confused, but he tried to hide it. "Chiro was controlling me?" he said in anger. "I'M GOING TO K-"

"Before you do anything irrational," said Gibson, "You should know that Chiro was under such control himself."

"Oh."

Memories suddenly came flooding back to Sparx. Chiro dragging Sparx away from the video game, insisting he 'had to show him something'.... Chiro attacking him, unscrewing the metal cap on his ear, and putting something wriggly on the side of his head...

Try as he might, Sparx could remember nothing past that moment.

"How did you get that worm thing out?" Sparx inquired suspiciously.

"You don't want to know." was the only response.

Sparx looked around him, and recognised Gibson's lab. There were a few conical flasks on the floor, and the air vent had been smashed in. Broken glass was scattered everywhere.

"What happened in here?" he asked.

"We had some... difficulty." Gibson replied. "Someone under worm-control tried to infect us all with worms, but we fought him off. Antauri and Nova are out to find the queen."

"The queen?"

"The one who started this all."

_The queen._ Although Sparx knew very little about these worms, he knew the queen was something really bad. He shuddered - if these tiny little worms could control a whole person, imagine what the queen could do - she was probably the one who had started the whole worm population.

Suddenly, there was banging on the door. Someone was trying to get in.

"Who is it?" yelled Sparx.

_"It's me, Chiro!"_ came the response from outside the lab.

Otto looked through the small window on the door. "You're infected!" he retorted. "We're not letting you in!"

_"But Antauri and Nova... they told me everything! They had the heroin in the pens... They got that worm out of me!... I swear..."_

Otto looked at Gibson, who gave a small nod.

The green monkey slowly opened the door. "... okay..." he said quietly. "... you can come in..."

Chiro grinned. "Fooled you!" he snarled, pulling three worms out of his pocket.

He attacked them before they knew they had been duped.

------

Antauri slowly opened his eyes. His head was throbbing, and every muscle in his body hurt.

His wrists and feet were bound, and as he tried to call out, he realised a strip of cloth was around his mouth. Antauri looked around, and saw Nova a few metres away. She was bound, like him, but she hadn't yet woken.

Simon sat in the corner. Antauri suddenly realised, with a sinking feeling of dread, Simon had been infected... again. Gibson must've let the man out of the lab after Antauri and Nova had left.

"Awake, are you?" Simon snapped. "Stupid chimps."

Antauri tried to yell, "Monkeys! We're _monkeys,_ not chimps!" but the gag was in the way.

"Ha... You're probably wondering why you aren't infected..." Simon laughed.

Antauri frowned. He hadn't really thought of that.

"You caused us the most trouble," Simon explained with an evil grin, "so we decided to 'infect' you last. So you can watch us take over the whole city."

So many questions were buzzing through Antauri's mind. How did they get here? Why did they need to infect everyone?

"Want to say something?" Simon jeered. "Go on, ask away." He stood up, walked over to Antauri and took the cloth away from the monkey's mouth.

"Why do you need to infect us?" Antauri asked.

Simon sighed. "You don't really know of everything in the lake surrounding Shuggazoom City, now do you?"

Antauri shook his head.

"We - the worms, not the hosts... we thrived in that lake. There was plenty of water, food, everything. If I might say so myself, we were also the most intelligent species down there, and most likely in all of Shuggazoom. We knew how to control brain activity, for goodness sake. We were great."

Antauri nodded. This made sense.

"But lately... the selfish people of Shuggazoom City have been dumping toxic waste into the lake. It ruined the water and everything - we couldn't live in there, we had to get out and find a new home."

Antauri nodded. This was all beginning to fit.

"The queen decided to take revenge on the people of Shuggazoom. We got inside the heads of smaller creatures at first - crabs..... birds near the water.... and bit by bit, we got closer to the people. However.... we heard a mention of the Hyper Force, and how they were the protectors of Shuggazoom. The queen issued orders to control the Hyper Force. We knew that as soon as we got a hold of the boy, Chiro..... the rest of you would fall like dominoes."

Antauri blinked. At the sudden mention of Chiro... where _was_ Chiro, anyway?

"Where is that boy, anyway?" said Simon, as if reading Antauri's mind. "Oh yes, _I remember... _He went over to the Super Robot, claiming to be uninfected. And he's probably in there right now..."

Antauri gasped. "... infecting Gibson and Otto... I have to get out of here..."

"Unlikely." Simon laughed.

Antauri was beginning to think the idea of _survival_ was unlikely, until he had an idea. He tried to straighten his tail... no, that idea was ruined already. His tail was in the bounds that held his feet. Then he had another idea...

**"CLAW DISRUPTER!"** he yelled. The ropes around his wrists fell away in tatters. Before Simon could react, Antauri had slashed through the bounds on his feet as well.

"Bloody monkey!" Simon yelled.

Antauri's battle cries seemed to awaken Nova. She sat up immediately, looking around in fright.

Antauri ran over to her and untied Nova. "... where am I?" she asked.

"I'm... not quite sure..." he replied. "But we have to run!"

"Why?" Nova inquired. "There's only Simon..."

"He's infected! Again!"

Simon had finally jumped up, and was running towards the two monkeys. "I'm gonna get you! And you can forget about us infecting you last!"

Antauri and Nova sprinted to the other side of the door. Nova's yellow fists were out in an instant, and she smashed it open.

Ahead of them was a long corridor. Three robot monkeys stood at the other end, and behind them was a door.

"Otto!" cried Nova. "Gibson! Sparx!" She ran over to them. "Simon is infe-"

"We know." said Gibson, grinning slyly. "So are we."

Nova slowly stepped backwards. Her and Antauri were the only members of the Hyper Force left to save Shuggazoom.

Nova and Antauri looked around. Simon was behind them, while Sparx, Gibson and Otto were in front of them. Escape seemed hopeless, until...

Antauri saw something poking out of Simon's pocket. It was the heroin-filled pens. He leant over to Nova. "Keep them talking," he told her quietly.

Nova drew a quick breath. "Why can't you infect Skeleton King, or something other than us?"

Simon glared. "You were polluting our home! We needed revenge!"

"Well destroying us all wasn't the best idea!" Nova rebutted.

Meanwhile, Antauri had inconspicuously brought out his ghost claws and was slowly levitating the heroin-pens out of Simon's pocket. He strongly hoped Simon wouldn't notice...

"Destroying you all was the only way!" Simon roared. "If we just left you, we would've been poisoned by the waste your people dumped in our lake! It was do or die!"

The heroin-pens were half out now. Just a few more centimetres...

"Well we aren't going to die either!" Nova roared back. "We're not going down without a fight!"

The pens were our of Simon's pocket now. Antauri levitated them away from Simon, and over to Nova.

"Come near us," the black monkey threatened, "And we'll toss all this heroin all over you!"

Simon paused. Sparx, Gibson and Otto were together in a huddle discussing their options, about three metres from the door.

Antauri, on a sudden impulse, jumped over to the three other monkeys and tackled Sparx to the ground. "Nova!" he yelled. "Open the door!"

Nova pushed Gibson out of the way and ran through the door, closely followed by Antauri. But just before he stepped through, Antauri saw there was a faded poster above the door-handle.

_'Contact the pool lifeguard if you need assistance,' _it read.

So, thought Antauri, we're at the Shuggazoom swimming pool.

After they were safely on the other side of the door, they slammed it shut and locked it with the padlock that had been conveniently placed near the handle. Banging, swearing and shouting sounded from the other side.

Nova spun around, and observed her surroundings. They were outside - it was cold, and the light was dim. Judging by the morning mist, it was only about seven a.m.

Right in front of them were two swimming pools - one for toddlers and one for adults.

Nova shivered nervously. "I don't like it here." she said, "It feels really.... evil."

Antauri nodded. "Yes," he whispered. "It is evil, and... I have a feeling... we aren't alone."

The two sat down, resting against the door. It felt so strange... a place that was normally bursting with happiness and excited people was now reduced to this.

Antauri and Nova almost cried out as they saw someone step out of the toddler swimming pool.

**Cliffie... Ha ha...**

**Review!**


	10. The Queen

**Hey everyone. A few months ago, I celebrated my official 'Year of Inactivity on Fanfiction'. I guess that's nothing to be proud of, so I'm considering taking up writing again. I'm pretty excited, actually. Welcome back to the good old times.**

**Anyway, Merry Christmas Fanfictioners!**

**AN:** _PLEASE REVIEW, this is the chapter I worked hardest on, and I'd LOVE some advanced critique! Thanks._

**Chapter Nine - The Queen**

Antauri and Nova brought out their weapons immediately and faced the figure that was coming towards them. He was soaking wet, and seemed to stagger at first. As he approached them, Antauri realised this man was really familiar.

"Mark?" Antauri stammered. "I talked to you in the park a few days ago!"

The man had reached them now. He looked down at them with bloodshot eyes. "Mark?" asked the man. "Oh, the host's name... right..." He slapped his forehead.

Nova separated a heroin-pen from the bunch, and waved it in front of her. "Any closer, punk," she threatened.

"You don't scare me." the man laughed. "The queen is here! She would kill you straight away. Cut, slice and dice you..."

Antauri looked towards the deep pool. There was something in there - he could feel it...

"Anyway, you can't save the city now!" said Mark. He threw his head back and laughed. "That boy of yours... Chango or something..."

"Chiro!" Nova corrected, annoyed.

"Whatever... he's infecting the entire city right now!" Mark grinned. "Everyone in Shuggazoom is going to have their own little worm by nightfall!"

Nova tossed the pens to Antauri and punched Mark in the face. Mark staggered backwards, but regained his balance.

Antauri became aware that something was stirring in the deep pool. Nothing was visible - the pool looked black, but he could see ripples on the surface.

Mark ran over to Nova. She readied herself for another punch, but was too late. Mark picked her up and tossed her into the pool.

"Nova!" Antauri cried. He was about to dive in after her, but halted. He could see what was in the pool. Something large, greenish-brown, spikes on its back and tentacles above its eyes...

The queen. And it was heading straight for Nova.

Mark grabbed Antauri's foot. The black monkey spun around and slashed at Mark's hand, but the man refused to let go.

"Your friend will be infected by the time she gets out!" said Mark with a sly grin. "But you're not going to be infected. You're going to be eaten!"

Antauri gasped, and attacked Mark even harder. But nothing would make him let go. Terrified, he looked towards the pool. Ripples were breaking out on the surface - Antauri knew that Nova wouldn't make it out uninfected, but she wouldn't go down without a fight.

Antauri blinked. Nova broke the surface with a large scratch on her face, and was gasping for air. The queen was no longer visible.

"An... tauri..." she coughed. "I fought it off..."

Antauri slashed at Mark again. "Nova!" he cried. "Use the heroin pens to... get the worm out of Mark!" Antauri separated one pen from the bunch, and threw it in Nova's general direction.

Nova nodded. She climbed out of the pool and snatched up the pen, which had landed about a metre in front of her. She remained motionless, almost as if she were contemplating the action of destroying Mark.

"What are you waiting for?" Antauri yelled.

To the black monkeys horror, Nova tipped all the heroin out of that pen. She bore an evil grin on her face.

"You... were infected..." he gasped.

Nova laughed. "You can't save the city now!" she cackled. "And you can't even save yourself! You failed... you and the Hyper Force... Failed!"

Failed... Antauri shook his head. _No!_ he thought. _I haven't failed... Failure will only occur... if I've given up..._

"Why do you need to infect the entire city?" Antauri asked, desperately trying to stall his impending doom.

Mark stopped pulling at Antauri, but his grip did not loosen. "Don't you get it?" he sneered, "You destroyed our home. You poisoned us! Wouldn't you be angry if someone had spread toxins through your haven? Chased you out of the place your kind had been living for generations?_"_

Antauri frowned. "This can't all just be for revenge!" he cried. "So many people are going to waste away with a worm in their head because you can't forgive and forget!"

"Forgive? **Forget!?**" Mark shrieked.

Antauri winced, almost as if Mark's harsh tone caused him physical pain. "But.... we can clean the lake! We can! We could purify the water, and it'll be as good as new!" Slowly and discreetly, Antauri slowly began to twist the end of one of the pens.

"The time for redemption has come and gone, little monkey." Mark said unkindly. "But you're right, this wasn't all just for revenge. It was because we had no choice."

"There's _always_ a choice," Antauri whispered, slowly separating the pen from the bunch.

"A choice? Ha! Our choice was between suffering in a poisoned world, or finding a new home! A wet place where we wouldn't dry out! One where we could thrive.... expand.... with a vengeance."

"Thrive - _expand?_ You're not going to stop at the human race!?"

Mark laughed. "Why so surprised? You only have yourselves to blame."

Antauri shook his head, bewildered. "No. No! You can't! We were careless. Leave the other races out of it!"

"I'm sorry, little chimp," Mark laughed, bearing an expression that was not apologetic at all, "but you failed to do what's best for the race you protect. Now I will do what's best for mine."

With that, he curled his free hand into a fist. Antauri, reacting immediately, grabbed the back of Mark's head and, with his his other hand, he shoved the open pen halfway up Mark's nose.

The man screamed. His back arched and his limbs convulsed, his eyes rolling back in his head. Antauri leapt out of Mark's grip, but stopped. The fur on the back of his neck prickled.

_Drip, drip, drip._

Something was wrong - very very wrong. Why wasn't Nova attacking him?

_Drip, drip, drip._

Antauri looked towards Nova out of the corner of his eye. She was stepping backward towards the door, cackling - but not attacking. And with a sick feeling in his stomach, Antauri knew why.

_Drip, drip, drip._

Fear in the pit of his stomach, the black monkey turned around, and saw a huge, hulking figure, rising up out of the pool.

Mark, twitching on the floor? He had made Antauri afraid? Mark was nothing. Nothing in comparison.

The dark brown creature opened its spiny, slimy mouth and hissed. Saliva dripped from its jaws, and water dripped from the tentacles above its eyes.

_Drip, drip, drip._

The queen emitted a deep, loud, ear-shattering roar.

Antauri turned and ran.

**Read and review. I hope I haven't lost my touch..... :/**

**Advanced critique would be very much appreciated. :)**

**-firesong77**


	11. Pursuit

**Wow. Two whole years of not updating this story? Man, sure has been a while. I wonder if anyone here remembers me.**

**Anyway.**

**Please, advanced critiques will be greatly appreciated.**

**Chapter Ten - Pursuit**

The nimble black monkey vaulted over the fence onto the road beyond, moments before the creature pursuing him crashed through the same fence and reduced the sturdy wood to splinters. Fear coursed through his entire body, reducing the pain of his injured foot to a dull throb. Adrenaline pumped through his heart. Blood pulsed in his ears; the ears that remained unscathed. Because he had not been infected.

No.

All of his friends were infected by those disgusting creatures. Everyone in the city would follow in due course. And what of Antauri's fate? His last moments would involve a slow death in the corrosive acids of the Queen's stomach, if her powerful jaws didn't crush him first.

_"NO!"_ Antauri's cry resonated across the misty streets. It was instantly drowned out by a gurgling snarl.

He dared to look over his shoulder. The Queen seemed to shudder strangely, with odd bumps and dimples in the flesh. She was powerful and vicious, she was everything that made her a formidable, unbeatable terror. But she was not fast. Antauri's burst of adrenaline had put several metres between himself and the drooling monster that snapped at the air in his wake.

A crash resounded to Antauri's left. The monkey barely had time to react before Chiro rammed into his side.

"THE QUEEN WILL MAKE A MORSEL OF YOU YET," the boy shouted, before attempting a wobbly laugh. Antauri clambered to his feet with a gasp. The Queen was almost upon him.

"I'm... sick and tired of your stupid patriotism and... and _drama!"_ Antauri sent a kick towards the person that used to be his leader. The strength of the kick was fuelled by terror; Chiro was sent staggering backwards, standing between the Queen and Antauri.

Chiro turned and faced the matriarch. Suddenly he threw himself down to the floor before her, rambling about his eternal loyalty that will live on when his host had all but turned to dust. The Queen was unmoved - she threw herself forward, knocking the grovelling servant out of her path. With a sickening crack, Chiro collided with a street bench. His leg was twisted at a wrong angle. He did not stir.

It wasn't until that moment that Antauri realised why the strange lumps shivered oddly on the Queen's skin - the Queen _had_ no skin. Powerful muscles shuddered with strength amongst a pulsating mass of tendons and ligaments. Black blood coursed through flaxen veins. Saliva oozed from the lipless mouth, revealing a display of blackening gums and yellowed teeth. The black monkey felt small as he thought of how those teeth would be the last thing he would see if she should catch him.

_If_ she should catch him. The heroin pens were suddenly cold in Antauri's grip.

A depressing thought suddenly occurred to the monkey. What if the only way to defeat her was to let her catch him?

Slowly, Antauri began to understand why the creatures depended so heavily on the control of neural activity. The worms had no skin, and hosts protected their internal structures from the harsh air outside. Their muscles were strong, but they were tender, having been accustomed to living in water. They were sensitive to changing conditions.

If the muscles were sensitive... then how weak were the organs_ behind_ those muscles?

The Queen continued to thunder after him. Although he could feel the yellow spittle on the back of his head, Antauri knew that for now he was safe. He was fast, he could outrun her. But he could not run forever.

Antauri skidded to a halt, and jumped to the side to avoid colliding with the matriarch. Her muscles flexed; her long tongue flicked across stained teeth. She was hungry.

A balcony hung overhead. Launching himself towards the piping that ran down the building's wall, Antauri clawed at the rusting metal, dragging himself up to the safety of the ledge. The Queen dived after him. Using the remainder of his strength, Antauri pulled himself over the balcony railings and collapsed to his knees. He could rest a bit here, gather his thoughts.

The Queen uttered an earth-rumbling roar. Her prey was eluding her.

A green figure darted into the corner of Antauri's view. His spirits rose - Otto would help him! - but with a sinking feeling, Antauri remembered that Otto was under enemy control. The green monkey was probably being sent to deal with Antauri - he posed a threat to their Queen.

Sparx and Gibson followed after Otto. A sob rose in Antauri's throat as he realised - Chiro had attacked him, but not because he was a danger to the worms' survival. Sparx, Gibson and Otto were coming after him, but not because he posed a threat to the Queen.

They were after him because they had finished infecting the entire city. Antauri was the only one on the planet who was not being controlled.

With a growing sense of dread, Antauri knew that he would not survive.

"Take out the Queen," the black monkey whispered to himself, "or die trying."

The Queen sat back on her hindquarters, and lashed wiry tendrils of skin, preparing to roar. Antauri unscrewed the caps off the heroin pens, and stepped onto the balcony railings. The cut in his foot no longer hurt.

The Queen opened her mouth; the high pitches of a squeal resounded.

Antauri jumped. The Queen swallowed him whole.


	12. Ordeal

**Absolutely determined to finish this story. Not nearly as many reviews for the last chapter as I hoped, but hey, I guess not as many people come on here as three years ago.**

**Fandoms change, I guess.**

**Chapter Eleven - Ordeal**

The Queen coughed and gagged on the mass that she didn't expect to swallow so soon, but before long she had consumed the infuriating monkey. He would trouble Her Highness no longer.

For now the matriarch was satisfied.

Otto bounded up to the Queen with grace he never quite possessed before the worms' control. "So he's been dealt with, I take it?" Otto inquired. The Queen gave him a knowing look. A thought passed between them; a mental bond that kept their minds linked. Without words, Otto knew what the Queen was telling him, for the species was connected to their Queen in a way that no other species was. They felt her anger, her unrivalled patriotism. Her bloodthirsty desire for revenge reflected itself in all of her minions.

Sparx caught up with Otto. "I sensed your thoughts," Sparx said, respectfully nodding to the Queen, "Apparently he tasted awful."

Nova walked slowly up to the two. "Gibson's coming," she said nonchalantly, and she indicated towards the blue monkey in the distance.

The Queen lashed her many appendages before starting back towards the pool. She was feeling strangely dehydrated; her head was pounding.

The monkeys sensed her mental unrest immediately, and anxiety passed over their faces. Something was wrong.

The Queen retched suddenly, and a single plastic pen tumbled from her mouth. Nova picked it up curiously. "The black monkey had these. He told me to use it on Mark, but I emptied it." Her metallic fingers swept the plastic face of the implement, before she suddenly realised.

"Hold on a second!" she cried, "These things were full of white powder. That's what I tipped out of the other one. Why is this one empty?" She looked from Sparx to Otto, then back to Sparx in confusion.

The Queen's back arched suddenly, and she retched again. Several more plastic pens erupted from her open mouth; all of them were empty. The matriarch convulsed. Her muscles began to spasm, and her complexion grew dim and grey.

A single thought erupted in the monkeys' heads. _WATER! NOW!_

The monkeys stared at each other. There was no water here.

_AWAY WITH YOU AND GET ME __**WATER!**_

Understanding gleamed in their eyes. The Queen was dehydrated! The Hyper Force began to disperse, before a stabbing pain exploded in each of their heads. They each felt like their mind, their very consciousness, was being ripped apart.

They fell down, screaming their agony to the rising sun.

-. -. -. -. -.

Chiro groaned. The pain in his leg was agonising. He knew it was broken, but he feared to look at it all the same.

Cries echoed across the city - a small chorus of them. Chiro recognised their voices. Most of the Hyper Force were there. The Queen's dull roar resonated, joining the monkeys in their lamentation. Chiro, his will controlled by the worm in his head, longed to go to them - but his broken leg wouldn't get him very far.

Something wasn't right. Why were they screaming? He tried to feel for the Queen's thoughts, though he could sense her power subsiding.

Without warning, a torturous pain overcame Chiro. His hands flew to his temples.

He blacked out instantly.

-. -. -. -. -.

The Queen turned her head upwards and clawed at the brightening sky. Her eyes dulled suddenly, as she retched bile and the last few plastic pens. Her muscles rippled unnaturally, her joints locked. The matriarch collapsed to the floor with a shuddering sigh. Her body was lifeless; an unmoving husk.

Sparx, Nova and Otto had fallen unconscious a few metres away from her. Gibson, who had been running to meet the trio, had fallen similarly.

For a while, nothing moved.

The sun had risen higher now. Its glow cast a golden hue on the city. The chilly mist, remnants of the cold subzero night, had dissipated. The road's black tar began to warm in the morning light.

Nova stirred slowly; her finger twitched. She groaned achingly. Her hand inched towards the metal cap over her ear, and she began unscrewing it slowly. The cap came away with a click, and a white, dead worm slid to the floor.

Nova groaned again, and pushed herself up to her knees. She looked around dubiously before she spotted her friends unconscious around her.

The yellow monkey stood shakily, and stumbled towards Sparx. She unscrewed the cap over his ear, and a similar worm dropped dead to the floor. She replaced the cap. Sparx mumbled something inaudible.

"Sparx," Nova murmured, shaking her unconscious friend, "wake up."

Sparx's eyes opened slowly. "My... my head. I think it just died."

"I hear ya there," Nova laughed quietly. She crawled towards Otto, who was just beginning to wake. "Well... I take it we aren't being controlled anymore," she added huskily, "perhaps this whole ordeal is over."

Sparx straightened up, and a fiery passion entered his eyes. "I wouldn't even know!" he exclaimed. "I get whacked by stupid Chiro, then I wake up to find I'd just been controlled by some stupid worm, and then stupid Chiro comes back and knocks me out with _another_ stupid worm." His fist came down heavily on the worm that lay at his side, and it crumpled under the weight. Sparx breathed heavily. "I don't even know what the heck is going on here."

Otto sat up slowly. "Did we win?" he asked, poking one of the dead worms.

Nova made her way over to Gibson, and attempted to revive him. "I think we may have," she said, unscrewing the metal cap covering Gibson's ear, "but how did it happen? The last thing I remember was Mark picking me up and throwing me into the pool, and the Queen-"

The Queen.

For the first time, Nova noticed that the Queen lay a few metres away. The once-powerful matriarch had turned from a murky brown to a dirty white, and her appendages lay stiffly by her sides. Sparx and Otto followed their friend's gaze, and both were overcome with shock.

"That - oh, jeez!" Sparx cried with a gasp. "That thing is... ugh! That's the Queen?"

"She's all icky and squishy," Otto whispered with disgust.

Gibson limped over and joined the group. "She looks quite dead to me," he said simply, "but if we were all being controlled, then I'm just wondering how exactly she was killed."

Their attentions turned to Nova.

Gibson spoke dubiously. "Nova, the last I remember seeing you was when you and Antauri left my laboratory to find and destroy the Queen. After that, Chiro came back with a worm for us three." Gibson indicated towards himself, Sparx and Otto.

"... yes," whispered Nova, shutting her eyes.

Sparx stood up. "Well, some Mark guy apparently threw you into the pool and you got yourself a fancy little worm in there, I take it?" When Nova nodded slowly, Sparx continued. "So all that remains now, is... where exactly is Antauri?"

A sob rose in Nova's throat. If she had been infected, then Antauri would have been disastrously outnumbered. He never would have stood a chance.

Nova's gaze turned to the Queen. But he must have done _something._

Her thoughts were interrupted by an odd sound. The monkeys looked around in confusion - it sounded distinctly like scratching.

"What is that exactly?" Otto wondered aloud.

"It's... coming from..." Sparx's voice trailed off. He needn't have finished - the team knew. Their gazes were suddenly directed towards the carcass of the Queen; her belly was moving.

The monkeys were speechless.

The scratching was replaced with a dull tearing sound. The Queen's stomach bulged and lurched sickeningly, before it ripped from side to side. A small, slimy figure crawled out of the newly-created hole.

"Guys! The Queen was _pregnant!"_ shrieked Otto.

The figure stood slowly. The Queen's black blood dripped from its stained body. It began to walk towards the monkeys.

"Stay back!" Nova cried, and she brought out her bright yellow fists. "One more step and I'll smash you to the ground!"

"Nova," the figure said sternly, "must you always resolve situations with smashing? Surely a more intelligent approach would suffice. It certainly did for me."

The yellow monkey almost fell in shock. She knew that voice. Surely, it couldn't be...

"Is that... you?" Sparx queried uncertainly.

Beneath all the gunk that covered his face, Antauri smiled. "That depends on what the word _'you'_ might be referring to," he said, with the token wisdom of the second-in-command, "but yes. This is certainly Antauri."

The monkeys were about to embrace their friend, before a loud buzzing filled the air. Antauri's hand flew to the communication device in his hear.

_"... Monkey Team! Something's going on. I blacked out. This guy broke into the Super Robot and bashed me over the head in my room, and... I just woke up. I'm about a hundred yards from the swimming pool. What the hell just happened? I need help! MY STUPID LEG IS BROKEN, and I don't even know how! And there's this weird bug-worm thing next to me... it's creepin' me out..."_

"Monkey team," said Antauri, straightening up, "I think Chiro needs help. And I'm sure he's burning with questions that need answers." The team nodded in agreement. "We should probably organise someone to clean that up," the black monkey added, indicating towards the carcass of the Queen.

Side by side, the Hyper Force walked down the street to meet with their leader.

**-. -. -. -. -.**

**Story's not quite done yet. One more chapter, I believe.**

**Anyway, I'd really appreciate it if you dear readers could give me some reviews. If I don't get many reviews, that tells me that nobody's reading my story.**

**If nobody's reading, then it's not really worth continuing.**


	13. Note

**Hey everyone. **

**This is a relatively important author's note, and I suggest you take the time to read it. I just thought there were a few things I needed to clear up about this story.**

Firstly - I'm sorry, I have changed my mind. Upon further review, I now feel the eleventh chapter was an adequate ending for the story, and I will no longer be updating this fic. After three years, I can finally consider this story complete.

On another note, _Controlled_ was the first story I wrote that was not humour-orientated, and I'm aware that some reviewers did not respond well to this. I can understand their reactions, as many of you are more used to my other, such as _Survivor: Shuggazoom _and _Ebay._ These ones were a tad more well-known, albiet very badly written.

However, I feel _Controlled_ is my best story. It spanned over three years. I started it when I was fourteen, and it was the only fic that I felt the need to resolve. As a result, you can see my writing style change with each chapter.

Many people objected to the things I included in the story - namely heroin. Personally, it made me laugh as I wrote about Otto suggesting heroin as a solution. But I guess I laughed more when Antauri approved.

Judging by some responses, not many other people shared my enthusiasm, under the reasoning that "the _real_ monkey team would never do this!"

I'd just like to state that the Hyper Force is not real. So there.

More seriously, having a more mature rating allowed me to have a different sort of fun. It allowed me to play around with what the Hyper Force would _obviously_ not do in the show, such as suggesting heroin as a solution. Isn't that ultimately what Fanfiction is? Tossing characters out of their depth and experimenting with how they'll make it out? I guess you'd need to maintain a relatively open mind when reading this story, especially after seeing the lighter tones of my other submissions.

I'd just like to throw a big thank you to my readers and reviewers, as well as an apology for delaying the completion of this story for a few years.

This will most likely be the last you'll all hear from me for another few years, ha. But don't worry, I'll find a way back here.

For good time's sake.

**Cheers,**

**firesong77**


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